


slight of hand

by Engineer104



Series: I Would Write 500 Words (and I Would Write 500 More) [6]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Gen, Somewhat, a bit - Freeform, and Mercedes is a nun, i don’t know how to describe it but Ashe is a thief, it’s pretty canon adjacent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:48:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22298854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Engineer104/pseuds/Engineer104
Summary: Ashe plays sleight of hand with the right person, but not before slighting the wrong.
Relationships: Ashe Duran | Ubert & Mercedes von Martriz
Series: I Would Write 500 Words (and I Would Write 500 More) [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1591699
Comments: 5
Kudos: 32
Collections: Those Who Drabble in the Dark





	slight of hand

**Author's Note:**

> yes the misspelled word in the title is intentional ;)
> 
> Felannie fever Discord drabble challenge! about inns!! except i think i went way over with this one...as i write this i still haven’t looked at the word count aha whoops

“Is this your card?”

“Oh, yes it is!” The woman grinned, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “How did you know? Was it, perhaps, magic?”

Ashe smiled as he collected the cards and shuffled them. “Ah, no magic here,” he admitted. “Never had the knack for it. I’d like to think I just have good eyes and quick hands.”

“It was a clever trick,” the woman - he guessed she was a nun from her modest layered dress and hat - offered. “But I can imagine a meaner soul wouldn’t take kindly to giving you money for a loss.”

Ashe shifted in his chair while guilt stirred in his stomach. “It’s, ah, well…” 

The woman’s smile took on an edge, but somehow the kindness in her eyes lingered. “You don’t strike me as a bad man, if a little...misguided.”

Ashe couldn’t hold her gaze, his own smile feeling frozen in place rather than genuine. His hand trembled as he reached for his already empty tankard just for something to do. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, ma’am,” he lied. “Card tricks and sleight of hand are just a hobby, so—“

The inn’s door burst open, a gust of cold wind following. Silence descended over the common room, and an eerie, awful tension filled it as a tall man in gilded armor wearing a noble’s cape sauntered in. 

“Milord,” the innkeeper greeted him and his entourage, “what can I do—“

“Silence, woman!” the lord boomed, fury twisting his handsome face. “I’m here searching for the thief that stole from my uncle.”

Ashe froze on his stool, but his heart raced. Maybe he should’ve sat closer to the fire for the warmth, or nearer to the kitchen door so he could flee at the first sign of trouble. If an angry noble bore down on him, took him and imprisoned him beneath his castle if he didn’t indenture him, then who would care for his brother and sister?

“Thief?” the innkeeper scoffed, hardly deterred by the man’s censure. “I keep no sort around, you can be sure.”

“Oh, really?” The sneering noble towered over her before lowering his voice. “I daresay you think my uncle lied? Or perhaps misremembered?”

“Ah, no, milord, of course not,” the innkeeper said. 

“Then find me the thief!” he demanded

Ashe finally scrambled to his feet with his blood rushing past his ears. He grabbed his cards and the coin the nun gave him, but too late. 

The noble’s gaze snapped to him. “Oh, there you are, boy,” he said, an ugly smile twisting his lips. “Care to repent for your crime?”

“M-my brother—“

“He’s under protection of the Church.” The nun stood, her face serene and a pleasant smile on her face; but steel entered her eyes as they fell on the noble. “I am taking him to Garreg Mach; he’s to repent his crimes and squire under a Knight.”

Ashe’s eyes widened in shock. “What?” he said. “But—“

The woman shook her head just enough and without sparing him a glance, all her attention on the noble. “I recall your family is a great benefactor to the Church, Sir Rowe.”

The man glared and retorted through gritted teeth, “He owes my uncle what he stole.”

“The Church will see to any damages,” the woman said, “but please, leave him in our care.” Her fingers, slight but strong, close around Ashe’s wrist. “He has a good heart; he was only ever a thief from necessity.”

“Oh, spare me your feeble excuses,” Sir Rowe said, but he raised a hand and waved, the men that accompanied him into the inn retreating. Before he followed, he turned to the nun and added, “Do make sure the Church keeps your promise. We wouldn’t want any trouble between us.”

“Of course not,” the woman said. 

Sir Rowe nodded, shooting Ashe one last glare that held all the heat of the hearth, and left, the inn’s door slamming shut behind him. 

The common room collectively released a breath, and the bard in the corner struck up a tremulous yet cheerful tune. 

Ashe rounded on the woman and demanded, “What was that?”

“An opportunity, if you’d like,” she said. She offered him a hand. “My name is Mercedes von Martriz. I suppose I should’ve started with that.” A sigh escaped her when her eyes drifted to the innkeeper and how she hovered nearby. “I’d apologize to the poor innkeeper, if I were you.”

“Yes, of course,” he conceded, still awe-struck, “but why did you stand up for me? Like…” Like a knight from the a bard’s stories, he thought, but one dressed in a nun’s habit rather than armor and wielding a smile and sharp words as viciously as a sword. 

“It was just the right thing to do,” Mercedes said, shrugging. “I was once as helpless to fate as you.” Ashe bristled at the accusation, but she raised an eyebrow at him and wondered, “What did you steal from Lord Rowe anyway?”

Heat colored his face, and he rubbed the back of his neck before mumbling, “It was a book...from his library.”

Mercedes laughed. “Oh, not food?”

“Ah, I don’t have to worry as much about food,” he explained. “The innkeeper’s an old family friend, but...there are other things, like clothes and shoes for winter, and my brother and sister are still young and growing and…” His cheeks warmed even more, the humiliation of his plight and the lengths he’d gone to gripping him. “But, uh, I never...sold the book. It was too pretty I couldn’t bear to part with it, even if I can’t…”

“Read?” 

Ashe couldn’t meet her eyes, but he shook his head. “So I’m not sure why the Knights would want me, especially after that.”

“Well, if you truly feel guilt, I don’t see why not.” Mercedes smiled. “Maybe sleep on it and tell me how you feel in the morning?”

Ashe looked at her and found himself returning her smile, a decision already forming in his head. “It’s a plan,” he said, and he shook her hand. “Thank you, Mercedes.”

**Author's Note:**

> ...it’s been a long week. did i forget how to write?
> 
> (how’d you like it though?)


End file.
